I cannot help remarking, by way of conclusion, that we have in this
genus of plants a convincing instance of the utility which may
result from the study of natural science in general, and even of
its minuter and hitherto most neglected branches. From a view of
the foregoing memoir it is evident, I presume, that the œconomical
uses of the lichens, in the various parts of the world, are already
very considerable and important: and altho’ it does not appear, that
the sensible qualities of any of them, or the experience of former
ages, will warrant our ascertaining any singular powers to them in a
medicinal way, yet posterity will doubtless find the means of employing
them to many valuable purposes in human life to us unknown.
It will at once be acknowleged, that the vegetable kingdom supplies
us with the far greater share of the necessaries, the conveniences,
and even the elegancies, of life. The cultivation of that knowlege,
which leads to the investigation of its subjects, cannot, therefore,
but be highly useful and necessary: and altho’ the bare science of
natural knowlege is of itself worthy of applause, yet it ought to
be considered, in reality, as the necessary means only of applying
the subjects of nature’s kingdoms to their true ends and purposes,
the service of mankind. To know and distinguish, by determined and
specific characters, even but a small share of that amazing multitude
of objects, with which the great Parent of nature has furnished our
globe, is a task far more than equal to the duration of human life. To
investigate and ascertain their various qualities and uses is equally
arduous and impracticable. While the naturalists, therefore, are
employed in distinguishing the forms of things, let others exert the
united efforts of genius and application to investigate their various
properties and uses. I need not say the field for both is boundless:
it doubtless will be so for ages yet to come. The hopes of discovering
some latent property, which may turn out to the advantage of his
fellow creatures, will animate the man, whose mind is truly formed for
relishing the pleasures of natural science; and however the result may
be, the inspection and contemplation of nature’s productions will ever
afford that satisfaction, which will amply repay him for his trouble.
The minuter, and, as they are commonly estimated, the most abject and
insignificant things are not beneath our notice; and an attentive mind
will readily conceive how much farther, and more extensively useful,
every branch of nature’s kingdom may yet prove in the œconomy of
human life. The man, therefore, whom a genius and love for natural
history has allured into its pursuits, and whose leisure permits his
gratification in such researches, if he is not happy enough to be
crowned with success, at least deserves it, and merits the thanks of
his fellow-creatures for his application and diligence.
XCII. _An Account of the fossile Bones of an Allegator, found on
the Sea-shore, near_ Whitby _in_ Yorkshire. _In a Letter to_ John
Fothergill, _M. D. from Capt._ William Chapman.
Whitby, 20th of 1st mo. 1758.
[Read May. 4, 1758.]
A Few days since we discovered on the sea-shore, about half a mile from
this place, part of the bones of an animal, appearing as in the annexed
figure (_See_ TAB. XXII.). The ground they laid in is what we call
allum-rock; a kind of black slate, that may be taken up in flakes, and
is continually wearing away by the surf of the sea, and the washing of
stones, sand, _&c._ over it every tide.
The bones were covered five or six feet with the water every full
sea, and were about nine or ten yards from the cliff, which is nearly
perpendicular, and about sixty yards high, and is continually wearing
away, by the washing of the sea against it; and, if I may judge by
what has happened in my own memory, it must have extended beyond
these bones less than a century ago. There are several regular strata
or layers of stone, of some yards thickness, that run along the cliff,
nearly parallel to the horizon and to one another. I mention this to
obviate an objection, that this animal may have been upon the surface,
and in a series of years may have sunk down to where it lay; which will
now appear impossible, at least when the stones, _&c._ have had their
present consistence.
[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XXII(b) _p. 689_.
_J. Mynde sc._]
_References to the Draught._
_A_, _B_, _C_, the head and bill, not in the same line or range with
the rest of the bones.
_a_, _b_, A bone, with its processes, which I take to be similar to
that, which includes the brain in fishes. The part between the bone and
outlines appeared to be a smooth membrane; but was so thin, that in
taking up it broke.
It is evident this is the upper part of the head inverted.
_B_, _C_, the superior _maxilla_ intire, and in some places covered
with the inferior one for four or five inches together. Where this
happens, the vacuity is filled with matter like the rock in which it
lays; and there are large teeth in each jaw, at such distances, and so
posited, that those in one jaw fill up the vacuities in the other, and
appear like one continued row, the mouth being shut.
Where there is only the superior _maxilla_ remaining, there are
no teeth; but the sockets are visible and deep, and at the same
distances from each other as the teeth in the other part of the jaw.
The tip or extremity of the bill was intire for four or five inches,
having both _maxillæ_, with their teeth, and towards the point large
fangs. Part of the bill and head were covered with the rock; which
was removed before they appeared as in the figure.
_A_, _D_, _F_, _G_, cavities in the rock, about two inches deep, where,
I suppose, the wanting _vertebræ_ have laid, as they are exactly suited
to have received them.
_D_, _F_, Ten _vertebræ_, from three to four half inches in diameter,
and about three inches long, some of them separated in taking up. They
were about two inches in the rock.
_E,_ Here we observed something like bone to stretch from the
_vertebræ_, and intending to take it up whole, begun to cut at what
we thought a proper distance; but found we cut thro’ a bone; and with
the _vertebræ_ brought up three or four inches of the _os femoris_,
with the ball, covered with the _periosteum_: but the animal has been
so crushed hereabouts, that we could make little of the socket or _os
innominata_. Several of the ribs came up with the _vertebræ_: they were
broke, and laid parallel to the _vertebræ_; but not quite close, there
being some of the rock between them. The _periosteum_ is visible on
many of the bones.
_G_, _H_, Twelve _vertebræ_ remaining in the rock, with which they are
almost covered, especially towards the extremity.
The place, where these bones lay, was frequently covered with sea-sand,
to the depth of two feet, and seldom quite bare; which was the occasion
of their being rarely seen: but being informed that they had been
discovered by some people two or three years ago, we had one of them
with us upon the spot, who told us, that when he first saw it, it
was intire, and had two short legs on that part of the _vertebræ_
wanting towards the head. Altho’ we could not suspect the veracity of
this person, we thought he was mistaken; for we had hitherto taken
it for a fish. But when we took it up, and found the _os femoris_
above-mentioned, we had cause to believe his relation true, and to rank
this animal amongst those of the lizard kind: by the length (something
more than ten feet) it seems to have been an allegator; but I shall be
glad to have thy opinion about it.
I am thy friend,
William Chapman _Sen._
_The bones were sent up, and are herewith presented to the Royal
Society by_
J. Fothergill.
XCIII. _De rariori quadam_ Orthoceratitis _Specie, in_ Suecia _reperta,
tractatus; in literis a_ Nicholao de Himsel, _M. D._ Riga Livono, _ad_
Gul. Watson, _M. D. R.SS._
[Read May 11, 1758.]
ORthoceratiti recti in loco quodam Kelwika dicto, prope Fahlunam in
Dahlia, reperti. Inhærebant lapidi cineracei coloris calcareo, variæ
magnitudinis orthoceratiti, quorum portiones hic delineatas describo.
_Vide_ TAB. XXIII.
_Fig. A._ Orthoceratitis portio, cujus pars inferior saxo adhuc
adhæret; ex lapide calcareo constans lente in apicem decrescens.
Licet ex parvis ejus fragmentis judicari possit, cylindrum esse
orthoceratitem, ea tamen si conjunguntur, verum formant conum, et mihi
videtur ex crassitie siphonis, orthoceratitem hunc conicum duos fere
superavisse pedes. Vidi orthoceratitem in alio lapide calcareo, quem
etiam ibidem loci, Kelwikæ, reperi, longitudine duorum cum semisse
pedum: sed impossibile erat, integrum eum excutere, nimis enim fragile
erat. Est portio hæc orthoceratitis testa sua ambiente vestita in _a b
c_. Quinque conspiciuntur articuli, thalami quondam, arctissime sibi
invicem insidentes, per quos a latere procedit sipho _m n_ sat crassus,
qui in omnibus fere, quas possideo portionibus orthoceratitarum, a
centro semper remotus, hic ad peripheriam positus conspicitur. Sipho
admodum lente decrescit, ex quo etiam de longitudine coni hujus
judicare licet. Crustæ vel testæ _a b c_ interior pars, quæ articulos
tegit, crysstallina est, ex spati crystallis tenuioribus irregularibus
constans.
[Illustration: _Philos. Trans. Vol. L._ TAB. XXIII. _p. 692_.
_J. Mynde sc._]
_Fig. B._ Portio alia, in qua articuli minus crassi; sipho quoque ad
peripheriam positus, testa sua in _a_ tecta. Conspicitur septum illud
testaceum in _b_, communi tenuior, quod ab ipso articulo superiori
procedens, siphonis partem _r s_ investit.
_Fig. B, C._ Portio orthoceratitis ex lapide calcareo cineracei
coloris: sipho vero, fluore spatoso egregie crystallisato, constat.
_Fig. C._ Portio alia per axin divisa, cujus pars exterior, testa quæ
striis circularibus levioribus externe ornata, investita conspicitur.
Ex parte interiori _Fig. D._ confirmatio ejus interna adparet. Sipho
_x z_ gracilior, inter centrum et peripheriam positus, dimidia parte
ambiente articulo denudatus adparet; dimidia altera, inferiori articulo
_c d e_ tegitur. Articulus _a b_ spato crystallisato pellucido polygono
repletus est. Articulus _c d e_ vero, saxo spatoso incarnato paululum
repletus est. _x_. Siphonis pars superior, ubi radii a peripheria ad
centrum tendentes conspiciuntur. Inter crystallos spatosos in articulo
_a b_ striæ hinc et inde adparent nigræ, asphalto repletæ; ita etiam
cavitas articuli _a b_, æque ac superficies convexa articuli _c e_, quæ
in primam concavam recipitur, lamina asphalti vestitæ sunt.
_Fig. E._ Pars alia orthoceratitis majoris, et quidem facies exterior.
_Fig. F._ Facies ejus interior, in medio divisi, cum siphone transeunte
satis crasso. _a b c_ et reliquæ striæ leves, sunt diaphragmata,
articulos _a b_ invicem separantia, siphonem proprie constituentia,
siphonisque tenuiorem membranam, quæ in _o_ et _p_ adhuc conspicitur,
ambientia. Sunt diaphragmata hæc crassiora in siphonis vestigiis, et
sibi invicem ab inferiori parte insident. Sipho hic inter centrum et
peripheriam positus est.
_Fig. G._ Materies calcarea, quæ siphonem replevit striata, et quidem
pars ejus interior, qua centrum orthoceratitis respicit, peripheriæ
opposita.
_Fig. H._ Facies posterior, peripheriæ propior.
_Fig. I._ Pars concava articuli majoris orthoceratitis, in qua
diaphragmatis testacei jam crystallisati portiunculæ albicantes _m n r_
conspiciuntur cum siphone transeunte.
_Fig. K._ Portio alia orthoceratitis majoris, ejusque facies
exterior, cum siphone _g_ ad peripheriam posito. Conspiciuntur his
diaphragmata, quæ ab utroque latere, ab articulis procedunt, se invicem
conjungunt, et siphonem ab exteriori parte obtegunt. _a_ est testæ
satis crassæ portiuncula, qua portio hæc orthoceratitis vestita adhuc
est.
XCIV. _A further Account of the Effects of Electricity in the Cure of
some Diseases[133]: In a Letter from Mr._ Patrick Brydone _to Dr._
Robert Whytt, _Professor of Medicine in the University of_ Edinburgh,
_and F.R.S._
Coldinghame, January 9th, 1758.
[Read May 11, 1758.]
A Young woman of Aiton, a village about two miles from this place, had
her right leg drawn back by a contraction of the muscles that bend the
knee, so that she had not been able to put that foot to the ground
for near a twelvemonth. She had taken the advice of some Surgeons in
the country, and had used several remedies to no purpose. At last,
hearing of the cure of the paralytic woman, whose case I sent you
some time ago, she insisted on being brought hither; and underwent a
course of electrical shocks for near two months, receiving every day
at least fifty or sixty in the following manner. She sat close by the
machine, and grasping the phial in her hand, she presented the wire to
the barrel or conductor, and drew the sparks from it for about half a
minute. The phial being thus charged, she then touched her knee with
the wire, and thereby received such severe strokes, as would sometimes
instantly raise a blister on the part. The joint was at last so much
relaxed, as that she could walk home with the help of a crutch, tho’
her leg was so weak, that she had very little use of it. After she had
continued in this state for some weeks, she was advised to use the cold
bath: but that soon brought back the contraction; and I have been since
informed that she was worse than ever.
A soldier’s wife, a genteel looking woman, of about 30 years of age,
was seized with a slight palsy, about Newcastle, on her way to this
country: but before she got to this place, she had lost all the feeling
in her left side, and so far the power of it, that she was brought to
us in a cart. After receiving 600 strokes from the electrical machine
in the usual way, and in the space of two days, she recovered the use
of her side, and set out on foot to make out the rest of her journey.
However, for fear of a relapse, I gave her a recommendatory letter
to Mr. Sommer, Surgeon at Haddington, as she was to pass thro’ that
town, and as I knew that he was likewise provided with an electrical
apparatus.
A young woman from _Home_, a village in this shire, but at a good
distance, complained of a coldness and insensibility in her left hand
and wrist, of two years standing. When I felt that hand, it was as cold
as a stone, whilst the other was sweating; and she told me, that it
never had been warmer all that time. I made her draw the sparks from
an egg (which for some other purpose was suspended by a wire from the
conductor) for about half an hour; and at the end of that time I found
the dead hand in a far greater sweat than the other. She then wrapt
it up in a piece of flannel, as she used to do, and retired. Next day
she told me, that since the operation she had been able to put off and
on her cloaths without help, which she had not been able to do for a
twelvemonth before. She was again electrised; and believing she was
then quite well, she went away: but some weeks after, upon the coldness
of her hand beginning to return, she made me another visit, was again
electrised, and was dismissed a second time apparently cured. This is
about two months ago, and I have heard nothing of her since.
As these two last women are at such a distance, I cannot pretend to
send you their own testimony of their cure. But for the two cases in
the separate paper, as the persons are inhabitants of this place, I
have taken care that they themselves should sign them, along with my
father; since you have acquainted me, that accounts of this kind should
have the attestation both of the patients and the minister of the
parish.
I shall only add here, that several persons have been relieved of
rheumatic pains, by electrising the parts affected. And a woman
was cured of a deafness of six months standing, contracted, as she
imagined, by cold. This woman held the phial in her hand, whilst
another person standing on a cake of resin gave her the shock, by
putting the end of the wire into her ear. This manner of electrising
brought always on a profuse sweat over the head, which we encouraged,
by wrapping it up in flannel. The first day she came here, she could
scarce hear what was spoken by those about her; but in five days she
seemed to be perfectly cured.
I am, _&c._
Patrick Brydone.
_Copy of the separate Paper before mentioned._
Robert Haigs, of Coldinghame, a labouring man of about 45, after having
been for ten days ill of a regular tertian ague, at my desire underwent
the electrical shocks in the common way. After having received about
thirty or forty very severe ones, he grew pale, and staggering for
several steps, would have fallen down, had he not been supported. He
then fell into a sweat, which continued near half an hour. I desired
him to come back the next morning, immediately before the fit, which
he said came on about ten o’clock. He accordingly came, and told me he
had not the usual symptoms preceding the fit. He was that day again
strongly electrised; and has been without any aguish symptom ever
since; _viz._ for the space of four months.